Net stocks head broadly lower

BenCharny

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Shares of Internet companies began trading Wednesday broadly lower, with the Dow Jones Internet Index
dji_djinet
and the Nasdaq Composite Index
$compq
both off sharply. Shares Yahoo Inc.
yhoo
and Google Inc.
GOOG, +0.48%
were sliding on reports that three major newspaper chains are exploring their own Internet ad selling initiative. Shares of InterActiveCorp. Inc.
IACI, +0.00%
operator of the Ask.com Internet search engine, opened the day off slightly despite positive comments about the company's 2007 plans, including the imminent launch of two new content features, as outlined late Tuesday by Chief Executive Barry Diller. Shares of eBay Inc.
EBAY, +0.77%
were also down 1%, after it increased to $2,000 from $1,000 the amount it's willing to refund for purchases that are fraudulent, damaged, or never arrive.

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